12 Taliban fighters killed along Pakistan-Afghanistan border

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Twelve Taliban fighters were killed by artillery fire along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, officials said Sunday, as witnesses reported that 18 civilians died in a clash in the south. NATO officials, however, said no non-combatants were killed in the southern clash. Coalition and Afghan troops in eastern Paktika province were attacked by insurgents who used Pakistan's territory to fire rockets and mortar rounds toward a coalition observation post Saturday, a coalition statement said. Pakistani authorities gave permission for the troops to return fire, it said.